Goals

This guide will help you understand how to remote login to your
Linux server system via SSH (Secure Shell) to access the system contents from
the back-end. Once you have successfully logged in, you will be able to view
contents, edit contents, and execute commands from your system back-end.

To
SSH into an environment, all you require is the remote system IP address, username,
password, and an SSH client.

Secure Shell or
SSH is a network protocol that is used to connect to a server system, transfer
data, and execute commands via a secure line between two network systems. The
default port number is 22.

You may ask why
you would want to use SSH if there are many other remote protocols. This is
because SSH is a replacement for other remote protocols such as rsh, telnet and
rexec, which all send information as plain text (including passwords and other user
information). Therefore, there is a high security risk factor with sending data
using these protocols. SSH overcomes this security issue by encrypting the data
and sending it via a secure line. SSH provides high confidentiality and
integrity of data over any secured or unsecured network.

How do you Connect via
SSH from a Linux System?

1) Open the terminal
or shell (the command line).

2)You
can type the command below to connect to a remote system via SSH protocol.

ssh <username>@<remote
system IP>

For example, if
the username is “root” and the remote system IP is 10.0.0.239, you can type the
following to connect to the system:

ssh root@10.0.0.239

3)If
you are connecting to the system for the first time, you will be asked the
following. You can type “Yes” to connect.

In this section
SSH is asking for host validation. This is an important feature of SSH for
better security and prevention of hacking methods such as spoofing. SSH is
simply asking you whether this the system
or server that you were expecting to connect to.

4)In the next step, you will see a prompt to
type the password.

5) Type the remote user password and you
will be connected to the system.

6)Now
you have successfully logged into your server system via SSH!

How do you Connect via
SSH from a Windows System?

If you are on a
Windows PC, you can also connect to your server system via SSH. There are a number
of SSH clients available on the market and most of them are free to use. One
example of an SSH client is PuTTY.

In this section
we will discuss about how to connect to a remote PC via SSH using PuTTY.

2)After
installation, simply click on the PuTTY icon to execute the program.

3)Now
you will get the PuTTY connection screen.

4)In
the Host Name (or IP address) field, please provide your remote system
IP or the system host name.

5)In
the Port field, please provide the port number “22”. (It is the default
SSH port. If the server is using a different SSH port, then you have to specify
that port here.)

6)In the Connection type section, please
select SSH.

7)Now
click Open to connect to the remote system. If you are connecting for
the first time, you will receive a host key validation prompt. This is an
important feature of SSH for better security and prevention of hacking methods such
as spoofing. SSH is simply asking you if this is the system or server that you
were expecting to connect to. You can click “Yes” to continue.

8)In
the next step, you will see a prompt to type the username. Please provide your
username there.

9)In the next step, you will see a prompt to
type the password. Type your password there. (Note that, in PuTTY, you cannot paste
the password. You have to manually type it into the screen.)